The Dark-Hunters (649 page)

“Yeah, yeah. This from a man who whines like a two-year-old when he stubs his toe. I’d like to see you survive ten hours of childbirth.”

“I am not a wimp!” Zarek cast a menacing glare at all of them. “I have the damn scars to prove it.”

“You the man,” Eros said. “Not that whining over a stubbed toe is anything to be unmanned about. I do it myself.”

Still the boy cried as if his heart was broken.

Bob?
Delphine mouthed the name to Jericho, trying not to laugh at something that was obviously a sore spot for Zarek and Astrid. The name was as unlikely for the small golden-haired cherub as the gentleness of the fierce man holding him while he rocked him.

“I want my fluff-fluff!” Bob wailed.

Zarek looked panicked. “Fluff-fluff…” He handed the toddler to Jericho. “Hold him for a sec.”

“I don’t think—” Jericho paused as Zarek literally tossed the kid at him. Terrified, he had no choice but to take it.

Holding the toddler out in front of him, he wasn’t sure what to do with it. He hadn’t held an infant in centuries. Eyes wide, he stared at the little guy, who was as startled by him as Jericho was by Bob. The kid was absolutely silent.

“Look what you did,” he snapped at Zarek. “I broke it.”

Delphine laughed. “You didn’t break him. He likes you.”

Jericho wasn’t so sure about that. Swallowing hard, he brought it in a little closer and tried to duplicate Zarek’s rocking motion.

Bob pulled his hand out of his mouth and slapped it against Jericho’s scarred cheek.

Jericho made an awful face. “Oh, gah, I’ve been slimed.”

Bob laughed.

Laughing, too, Delphine reached up to wipe his cheek dry. “It’s not slime. It’s a baby kiss.”

“It’s slime,” Zarek said as he returned with a light blue blanket that had the head of a lamb on one corner of it. He angled the head toward Bob. “Hello, little Bobby,” he said in falsetto. “I’m the big bad lamb come to get a hug from you. Mwah!” He made a kissing noise.

Squealing happily, Bob grabbed the blanket and kissed it.

Delphine was aghast at the sight of two huge, fierce men coddling such a tiny child.

“We need that for YouTube,” Astrid said with a wink.

“Most definitely.”

Zarek took Bob back so that his son could cuddle the blanket. The little guy tucked the blanket under his cheek, which he rested on his father’s shoulder. “See, he just needed his fluff.” Zarek gave Astrid a teasing once-over. “I’ll be needing some of mine later, too.”

Astrid gave Delphine a dry stare. “I’m really going to strangle him.”

Zarek kissed his son on the top of his head as he handed him back to Astrid. “Any time you need an expert parental hand—”

“I’ll find Jericho.”

Jericho looked horrified. “Um, could you at least wait until that thing’s housebroken?”

Zarek laughed. “You know, that’s how I felt, too. You should have seen my face when she told me she was pregnant. I honestly had a moment of total hara-kiri, but once the shock passed and after a few months went by, I actually got used to the concept. Believe it or not, they actually grow on you. Slime and all.”

Delphine wrapped her arms around Jericho’s waist. “Oh, come on, Jericho. Don’t you want a little miniature you running around?”

“Not really, and I can’t imagine you’d want another one of me, either.”

She shoved at his back playfully before she went to join Madoc.

Zarek and Astrid left him to tend to Bob.

Alone, Jericho went back to Nike. “We’re getting help for you, Nike. I promise.”

She hissed at him.

“C’mon, Asmodeus,” he whispered. “Don’t fail me.”

“Oh, little brother, that incompetent demon is the least of your concerns.”

Jericho started at the sound of Zelos’s voice behind him. He turned, intending to greet his brother. But the moment he did so, Zelos buried a dagger deep into his chest. All the way to the hilt …

Through his human heart.

Gasping, he staggered back, into Nike’s arms.

CHAPTER 16

“No!” Delphine screamed as she saw Zelos stab his brother quicker than she could react. Her heart wrenched at the sight of Jericho falling as Nike seized him and attacked him from behind. An unimaginable fury took hold of her. One she could neither explain nor temper.

All she could taste was the need for blood.

Zelos’s blood.

Before she even realized she’d moved, she had him on the ground, pounding his head against the floor as her fury rode her hard.

“Delphine, stop! You’re going to kill him.”

Somewhere through the haze of her anger, she recognized Madoc’s voice as he tried to pull her away from Zelos. She wrenched her hand from Zelos’s black hair. Rising, she kicked him hard in the ribs. “Hold him. Because if Jericho dies, I’m going to tear his heart out of his chest and feed it to him.”

Zeth’s eyes were wide. “Given the ass-whipping you just gave him, I’m sure you will.” He looked at Madoc. “Remind me to
never
upset that woman.”

Delphine barely heard him as she ran to Jericho. Deimos had pulled him away from Nike, but not before she’d bitten him.

He was panting and shaking as he lay on the floor.

Kneeling beside him, she choked from the wave of agony tearing through her. Her gaze swam with tears. “Baby?” Her voice broke as pain overwhelmed her.

He took her hand in his and held it while Deimos pressed a cloth to the wound in his chest. “What do we do?” Deimos asked. “I’ve never seen a god bleed like this.”

“He has a human heart … but he can be resuscitated. The Oneroi and Dolophoni killed him every night for centuries, and every morning he was brought back to life.”

“By Zeus,” Deimos reminded her. “And no offense, but I don’t think he’s going to be overly accommodating given what we just did to him.”

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she watched Jericho’s face grow paler. His breathing more shallow.

“Don’t leave me, Jericho,” she whispered, cupping his scarred cheek in her hand. “Please. I can’t cope with these emotions you gave me. I can’t. And I don’t want to be here without you. I need you with me.”

He lifted her hand to his lips for a gentle kiss. “In all this time, whenever I died, I never wanted to wake up again. I prayed every night for it to be the last death. And now…” He choked and sputtered a mouthful of blood.

Delphine sobbed aloud as she tried to help him not choke on his own blood. She was covered in it, and it rammed home the fact that he was dying. Her entire body shaking, she knew she was losing him, and she couldn’t bear the thought of it.

She would
not
lose him.

“He needs an immortal heart!” she shouted to Madoc, looking at him over her shoulder. Her gaze went from him to his prisoner.

She froze as the solution hit her like a fist in the stomach. It was harsh, but …

Who better to give up his life to save Jericho than the traitor among them? The brother who’d betrayed him. The brother who had always betrayed him and everyone the selfish god came into contact with.

Zelos.

She met Deimos’s gaze over Jericho’s body and knew that he had the same exact thought she did.

“Stay with him.” Deimos got up and crossed the room.

Delphine brushed the hair back from Jericho’s face. “Breathe, baby, breathe. Hold on. We’re not going to let you go.”

Jericho’s grip weakened on her hand. “At least I had you for a time.”

“No!” she snapped at him. “You’ve been stubborn since the moment I met you. Don’t you dare get complacent now. You fight this for me. You hear me?”

He nodded as he sputtered through more blood.

Delphine heard a struggle behind her, but she didn’t turn to look. Honestly, she didn’t care. Anyone who could do this to their own brother deserved no mercy.

Let him die.

Deimos returned with Zelos’s heart in his hand.

Repulsed by the sight, Delphine cringed. Madoc appeared by her side. He turned her in his arms to shield her face while Deimos exchanged their hearts. Madoc’s steady, deep, rhythmic heartbeat helped to focus her while she kept her hand wrapped around Jericho’s. There was no way she was going to let him go.

Not ever.

After what seemed like an eternity, she heard Jericho gasp. His grip on her hand strengthened.

Her heart hammering, she pulled back from Madoc to see him staring at them.

He coughed and narrowed an angry grimace at Madoc. “If you’re going to snake on my girl, Madoc, you could at least wait until I’m cold.”

Holding his hands up in surrender, Madoc laughed. “I would never snake your woman. You’re the only man I know who would come back from Tartarus just to slaughter me for it.”

Deimos met her gaze. “Delphine, you might want to turn your head again. I’ve got to cauterize that bite wound before it infects him.”

Delphine did, but she still heard Jericho’s curse as Deimos burned the gallu bite. And even though Jericho must have been in excruciating pain, his grip on her hand never turned painful.

As soon as Deimos was finished, she scooted closer to Jericho. “My poor baby,” she breathed, kissing his cheek. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again. I swear if you do I will beat you senseless.”

Jericho pulled her into his arms and held her tight. Honestly, he never wanted to come that close to leaving her again, either. He kissed the top of her head, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw his brother’s body. He probably should have felt bad or guilty, but he didn’t. Zelos had always been a jealous bastard, and he’d made their childhoods unbearable.

“Who took his powers?”

Madoc indicated himself and Zeth. “We split them.”

Zeth came forward. “You want us to dump him?”

“No. In spite of everything, he is my brother. Take his body to my mother and let her do with it as she will.”

Deimos scoffed at his concern. “Do you think he’d be that kind to you?”

Jericho pushed himself up. “No. But someone,” he gave a meaningful look to Delphine, “taught me to be a better person than that.”

“All right,” Zeth said with a sigh. “Time for more clean-up.” He sighed. “I’m thinking maybe we should hire a full-time crew for this.”

Madoc shoved him playfully. “Since most of it was caused by your team, I don’t want to hear you bitching.”

Jared hissed as he started toward them.

Jericho stiffened, afraid of what was attacking them now. Damn, couldn’t they have one minute of peace? “What’s wrong?”

Jared looked ill and pale. “I’m being summoned home. I have to go. Zephyra doesn’t like for me to resist her.”

Jericho tucked his wings in and cleaned his clothes. “You want me to talk to her?”

“It won’t do any good. She’s out of patience with my absence, and unless you have what she wants…” He looked around with an agonized expression that said he was going to miss their company. No doubt he’d miss not being tortured most of all. “Good luck to you.” Bowing his head, Jared vanished.

Delphine scowled as he left. “I feel so bad for him.”

“So do I. I wish there was some way to get him free.”

She sighed heavily. “I’m sure no one wishes that more than he does.” She glanced back at Nike. “Do you think we should be worried about Asmodeus?”

“Yeah,” Deimos said sarcastically. “Given the luck we’ve had, he’s probably being disemboweled even as we speak.”

*   *   *

Asmodeus crept through the back hall where only rodents normally scurried. He was doing his best to stay out of sight, sound and smell range. Noir and Azura were raw with their fury right now, beating everything that came near them.

No wonder he’d left here. But that wouldn’t save him if they happened upon him now. They would gut him and make him pay for leaving them.

“What are you doing?”

He jumped and almost screamed at the deep voice coming out of the darkness. “Dammit, Jaden,” he whispered angrily, “who unchained you?”

“Noir. He was afraid someone might free me while they were rescuing and fighting the Skoti. So I’m banished to the hallway where outsiders can’t walk.”

Asmodeus screwed his face up as he saw the damage they’d done to Jaden. How could he even speak with the way his lips were swollen? But the most amazing part was how Jaden could use his powers to camouflage those wounds when demons summoned him to the outside world.

No one on the outside knew what horrors lived here in this hell realm.

Jaden leaned forward to gaze into the room where Asmodeus had been looking for a possible lead. “The gallu you seek is the one in the back of the room.”

“I hate it when you read my thoughts.”

“I know. Trust me, it’s no privilege for me, either. I don’t need to know how screwed up you are. I have my own issues.”

“Yeah … so any bright ideas on how I’m going to get to that gallu, kill it without getting bitten, and not get caught?”

“You won’t have to.”

Asmodeus cocked his head as a wave of fear went through him. Was Jaden planning to kill him? “What do you mean?”

Jaden pulled a sparkling green amulet out of his pocket. “Take that to Jericho and tell him to free my … to free Jared from his master, and I’ll take care of your gallu for you.”

Stunned, Asmodeus couldn’t move. Dare he even hope for it? “Are you sure? Can you do that?”

Nodding, Jaden put the amulet in his hand. “Swear to me you won’t keep it for yourself. ’Cause if you do, so help me—”

“I know, I know. You’ll gut me. Don’t worry, I won’t betray you.”

“Thank you.” Jaden started away from him.

“Hey, Jaden?”

He paused and turned back to face him.

“Why is it so important to you that Jared goes free?”

“Because…” When he finished the sentence, his tone was so low that Asmodeus wasn’t even sure he’d heard it correctly. “I’m the reason he was damned. Now go before the others find you.”

Asmodeus inclined his head to him before he used his powers to teleport out of the dismal hole back into the light hall where his friends were waiting for him.

Friends.

Who would have ever dreamed a demon like him could have something like that?

Delphine stood up from her chair as soon as she saw Asmodeus return. She looked to Nike, but the goddess was unchanged from her gallu form. “What happened?”